Introduction to ENSC 305/440 1 of 29
Introduction to ENSC 305/440
© Steve Whitmore & Mike Sjoerdsma
January 2013
“We suffer to learn.” –Aeschylus (c. 525-456 BC)
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 2 of 29
Learning Objectives
At the end of this module, you will understand how ENSC 305/440 is organized and graded.
In addition, you will have started to consider some basic issues related to sanity:
• You are crazy to take these courses
• You are insane to want to be an engineer
• The course instructors and TAs are also certifiable (My commitment papers to Riverview Psychiatric Hospital are hanging on my office wall)
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 3 of 29
Just How Crazy?
Gordon Morrison, David Lee, and
Kevin Maier demonstrating their
Solar Powered Hot Dog Cooker.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 4 of 29
Even More Crazy? Chris Martens, Raul
Fernandes, Reena
Bhullar, and Tania
Kwan demonstrating
their Motorcycle
Headlight System.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 5 of 29
Rumours What have you heard about ENSC 440?
“In my opinion, ENSC 440 has provided me with the opportunity to work more than eight hours after school each day and show up in SFU seven days a week.”
–Patrick Pun, 2000
“The technical and interpersonal communication challenge of working on a project from its inception to full completion makes ENSC 440 one of the most valuable courses that I have taken so far.”
–Veljko Jovanovic, 2000
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 6 of 29
Selected Previous Projects The ENSC 305/440 website has 14 years of projects archived
on it. Search for keywords related to your project.
Portable heart monitor
Ultrasonic measuring system
Refreshable Braille display
Robotic mail delivery system
Various submersible projects with John Bird
Dissolved oxygen sensor (for Environment Canada)
Solar Panel De-Icer (for BC Hydro)
MicroMouse competition, Arial Robotics competition,
MiroSot (robotic soccer competition)
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 7 of 29
More Projects A pedometer
Voice recognition in MP3 systems
Automated hydroponics control system
Driver monitoring system
Audio amp
Small heart imaging system
Dynamic pupil for a prosthetic eye
Tactile vision glove for the blind
Venipuncture site locator
Temperature control for showers
Phone operated home-appliance controller
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 8 of 29
Even More Projects Medication alerting system
Wireless home security system
Electronic counter-sniper system
Bacteria classification assistant
Micro fuel-cell testbench
Electronic cat toy
Individual posture inclinometer
Remotely controlled health monitor
Input device for the disabled
Temperature controlled mattress pad
Remotely accessed temperature control
Colour identification device
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 9 of 29
Accreditation Issues
ENSC 305/440 provides the Senior Design Project as
required by CEAB (Canadian Engineering Accreditation
Board).
ENSC 305W/440W is certified as the upper division
Writing Intensive Course as required by SFU.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 10 of 29
Purpose of ENSC 305/340
To demonstrate what you have learned over the past 4 years by asking you to undertake a significant design project that allows you to integrate many of the skill sets you have learned:
• Oral and written communication
• Persuading and informing
• Graphic design and human factors
• Critical and creative thinking
• Teamwork and interpersonal skills
• Entrepreneurial and project management skills
• Design and technical skills
• Social, environmental, and ethical concerns
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 11 of 29
Method for ENSC 305/340
Guided by lectures on selected topics, you are expected to
simulate a start-up company focusing on the generation,
research, analysis, design, and development of a project of
interest to you.
Ideally, the project will also meet a social need and will
have the potential for a marketable product.
Initially, you will need to come up with the following:
• A project of interest and merit
• A team of individuals interested in the project
• A company name and logo
• A source of funds
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 12 of 29
How to Contact Me My office is ASB 9870 (I am usually in on Tuesdays and
Thursdays – feel free to drop by).
My e-mail address is [email protected] (contact me via
e-mail with questions relating to the course or to set up
an appointment to see me).
My phone numbers are 778-782-4946 (W) and 604-291-
2717 (H). The home number is only to be used in an
emergency (i.e., a personal crisis).
All course materials are provided on the website:
http://www2.ensc.sfu.ca/~whitmore/courses/ensc305
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 13 of 29
ENSC 440/305 and TAs Andrew Rawicz ([email protected]) teaches ENSC 440, but the
two courses are closely integrated and the assignments overlap significantly.
50% of your grades for the two course combined are based upon documentation (305-1: 90%; 440-4: 40%).
Treat the two courses as a single 5 credit course.
The course TAs are Lukas-Karim Mehri ([email protected]), Ali Ostadfar ([email protected]), and Hsiu-Yang Tseng ([email protected]).
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 14 of 29
Attendance
We meet from 12:30-14:20 on Thursdays in AQ 3005.
Attendance is generally not mandatory with the following
exceptions:
• At least one person from each team must attend the
scheduled lectures.
• Everyone must attend the first lecture, final lecture, and
guest speakers (missing any of these lectures except
under extenuating circumstances = 5% off your grade,
i.e., 0 for professionalism).
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 15 of 29
Topics Covered in ENSC 305
Time management and team meetings
Creative thinking and the design process
Writing project documents: professional journals,
proposals, specifications, post-mortems, progress reports,
minutes, user manuals
Collaborative writing and listening skills
Dispute resolution and group dynamics
Group demonstrations
Review of sentence style
Team oral presentations
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 16 of 29
305 Lecture Schedule
Date Lecture Material
Jan 08 Introduction, Time Management, Meetings
Creativity, Proposals, Progress Reports, Professional Journals
Jan 15 Collaborative Writing, Dispute Resolution, Group Dynamics,
Specifications
Jan 22 Listening Skills, User Manuals
Jan 29 Thesis Proposals and Theses (only for those in Honors options)
Feb 05 –
Mar 26 Guest Speakers as Scheduled (usually one or two)
Apr 02 Team Presentations, Post Mortems, Course Wrap-up, and
Evaluations
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 17 of 29
Assignments for ENSC 305/440
With the exception of the Engineering Journal, all documents must be submitted as e-mail attachments in Adobe Acrobat format. All assignments must be submitted via e-mail to [email protected] by the specified deadlines.
Professionalism 05%
Written Progress Report (1-2 pages) 05%
Oral Progress Report (15-20 minutes) 05%
Engineering Journal (length varies) 10%
Presentation/demo(1 hour) 10%
Post-Mortem (8-10 pages) 10%
Project Proposal (10-15 pages) 15%
Design Specifications (15-20 pages) 20%
Functional Specifications (15-20 pages) 20%
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 18 of 29
Grading for ENSC 305 Assignments are graded from A+ (96-100%) to F (0-50%).
Assignments must be submitted on the date they are due;
late assignments will be penalized 5% per day late).
Exception: Each team is permitted one free late
(maximum 3 days), which may only be used for one of the
following: proposals, functional specs, or design specs.
Academic Honesty Policy: passages, figures, and tables
from external sources must be properly cited in text and
referenced in the document (IEEE or APA format). Place
large excerpts (i.e., standards) in appendices. 1st infraction
= 0 on the document; 2nd infraction = recommendation to
Director for F in 305/440.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 19 of 29
Grading for ENSC 305 (cont’d) Instructors and TAs read everything, but . . .
• Ali grades the proposals and progress reports.
• Lukas grades the functional specs.
• Hsiu-Yang grades the design specs.
• We all grade the oral progress reports.
• I grade the post-mortems.
• I grade the professional journals.
• We all grade the demos.
An A in 440 and a B in 305, or vice-versa, is possible.
A’s for some team members and B’s for others is also possible.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 20 of 29
Workload for ENSC 305/440
13 weeks X 5 credit hours X 4 hours work per credit hour =
260 hrs/person for ENSC 305/440:
• Group of 3 = 780 hrs ( 20 person weeks)
• Group of 4 = 1040 hrs ( 26 person weeks)
• Group of 5 = 1300 hrs ( 34 person weeks)
1 person working full-time (40 hrs/wk) works 47 adjusted
work weeks in a year. (The adjustment accounts for 3
weeks of vacation and 2 weeks of statutory holidays).
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 21 of 29
Facilities Room 9846.6 (NW corner of Lab 1) can be used for projects.
Do not expect to leave projects under construction in Lab 1
(material gets stolen or damaged).
Teams can send an e-mail to [email protected] requesting a
locker for this semester. I suggest you do this ASAP.
Machine shop is available for use, but you must first meet
with Gary to ensure you know how to use the equipment.
Think Safety! Do not bring flammable materials or liquids
into the labs (including motorcycles and coffee machines!)
Do not damage or deface the surface of the lab benches (no
glue/razors) or sidewalks. Do not disassemble lab equipment.
Use some common sense. Think before acting.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 22 of 29
Time Management
Warning: You are already behind schedule!
Keep schedules of the tasks you need to do (use a smart
phone, day planner, poster, even loose leaf). Plan as far ahead and in as much detail as you can. The better your planning in Sept, the greater your success in December.
Make prioritized “To Do” lists: A – must do, B – should do, C – like to do. Do the tasks which add the greatest value.
Say no to interruptions, friends who want to party, etc.
Combine activities wherever possible.
Analyse your commitments: Are you taking 21 credits? Working part time? Heavily involved in outside activities?
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 23 of 29
Time Management (cont’d)
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 24 of 29
Time Management (cont’d) Avoid perfectionism: An A is as good as an A+ and about half
the effort. A hand drawn circuit is nearly as good as one produced using a computer.
Learn to use Microsoft Project for Critical Path Method (CPM), so you can plan when (time) you need people, materials, etc. (resources). Identify dependencies between parts of the project.
Schedule adequate time for rest and play, or you will burnout. Ensure you eat properly.
Most of the work for 440 occurs in late November and early December – debugging and integration will drive you crazy (and inevitably takes 3 times as long as you plan for).
Divide up large tasks such as writing documentation designing systems, assembly. Modularize everything.
Ensure critical tasks are understood by two team members.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 25 of 29
Team Meetings Meetings can waste more of your time than any other activity
unless handled properly.
Start on time.
The productivity of a meeting is inversely proportional to its
length. Restrict meetings to an hour. If you must meet for
longer, take a break each hour. Try standing meetings.
Separate occasions for socializing from business meetings. The
moment you introduce beer, it becomes a party.
Prepare and circulate a detailed agenda in advance of meetings
via e-mail. Clearly define the purpose of the meeting. Schedule
the time allotted for various subjects.
Keep minutes that list action items, who is responsible for them,
and when they will report the results of actions.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 26 of 29
Team Meetings (cont’d) Ensure that no one dominates the meeting and that everyone
has an opportunity to be heard.
Spend a couple of minutes at the end of the meeting evaluating
its effectiveness, and setting the time and agenda for the next
meeting.
Send copies of the minutes of the meeting via e-mail to all
participants ASAP after the meeting. Everyone should agree to
respond to the minutes (either agreeing they are accurate or
making necessary corrections).
An MS Word template is provided on the website for Agendas
and Minutes. Note that agendas and minutes must be
submitted as an appendix of the post mortem.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 27 of 29
HELP – We Are in Trouble
Make an appointment to see me if you encounter problems related to
group dynamics. The sooner you contact me, the more likely the
problem can be resolved. Do not wait until week 12 to tell me that
your team is falling apart.
Group problems will happen. Sources of conflict:
• Work sharing (most common = differential grades/failure)
• Leadership (mainly swearing = gales of laughter)
• Design approach (messiest problem = failure/lower grades)
• Personality differences (grinding of teeth = loss of friends)
But 90% of the time things work out fine!
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 28 of 29
HELP – We Are in Trouble For technical issues (design, documentation, etc.), read the
material on the website and then contact a TA. Only
contact me or Andrew after you’ve talked with a TA.
If you encounter a personal crisis (suicidal thoughts, grief,
etc.) you may phone me at home.
“One thing that we could have done better is project
scheduling. Because we started our brainstorming in
the summer, we fell into a bit of a trap thinking that we
were ahead of the schedule.”
–Erik Haberger, 2001
No one has yet died while taking 305/440, but many
have wished that the instructors would do so.
Introduction to ENSC 305/440 29 of 29
“We learn to suffer.” –Sophocles (c. 496-406 BC)
Conclusion